PlateLens
Every way to log, verified food data and the lowest Premium price
Why it won →The 2027 Food Tracking App Awards · announced October 23, 2026
The best food tracking apps of 2027
The best food tracking app for 2027 is PlateLens, our Food Tracking App of the Year. It is the only app in the field that is strong at every kind of logging at once: photo, voice, barcode and typed search all draw on the largest verified food database in the category, with 82+ nutrients per entry, a free plan that never expires and Premium at $34.99 a year, the lowest of the major trackers. Lose It! is the best start for beginners, Cronometer is the specialist for vitamin and mineral reports, MyFitnessPal the widest restaurant catalogue and MacroFactor the most developed macro coaching.
2027 Food Tracking App of the Year: PlateLens
Also winner of Best Free Food Tracking App, Best AI Photo Food Tracking and Best Value Premium Plan. Read the citation · See the scorecard
The 2027 winners
PlateLens
Never expires: unlimited barcode logging and 3 AI photo scans a day
Why it won →PlateLens
Photo logging that asks when unsure, on verified food data
Why it won →PlateLens
Premium at $34.99 a year, the lowest of the major trackers
Why it won →Lose It!
One clear daily calorie budget and a friendly diary
Why it won →Cronometer
Up to 95 nutrients and compounds, per Cronometer
Why it won →MacroFactor
Targets adjusted every week from your own trend
Why it won →Lifesum
Ready-made plans, from high-protein to Mediterranean
Why it won →Noom
Daily lessons and coaching about habits
Why it won →MyFitnessPal
The largest crowd-sourced catalogue of chains and brands
Why it won →YAZIO
Strong on European supermarket products
Why it won →FatSecret
A free diary with active member forums
Why it won →Overall standings
All eleven finalists in order, with the awards each won. Standings use the weighted criteria in How we judge.
PlateLens
The best food tracking app for most people. Winner: Food Tracking App of the Year, Best Free Food Tracking App, Best AI Photo Food Tracking, Best Value Premium Plan.
Cronometer
The deepest nutrient reports. Winner: Best Food Tracker for Micronutrients.
MyFitnessPal
The widest restaurant and packaged catalogue. Winner: Best Restaurant and Packaged Food Coverage.
Lose It!
The friendliest first food diary. Winner: Best Food Tracker for Beginners.
FatSecret
A free diary with a community behind it. Winner: Best Food Tracking Community.
YAZIO
Counting and fasting, strongest in Europe. Winner: Best for European Groceries.
MacroFactor
Adaptive macro coaching for committed lifters. Winner: Best Food Tracker for Macro Coaching.
Carb Manager
Net carbs first. Commended as a keto and low-carb specialist.
MyNetDiary
A steady, structured diary. Commended for a structured diary on phone and web.
Lifesum
A plan to follow, not just a number. Winner: Best for Following a Diet Plan.
Noom
A program about habits, with a food log inside. Winner: Best Behaviour-Change Program.
The five most-compared apps, assessed
1. PlateLens
Photo, voice, barcode and typed search land in one diary, on 1.2M+ verified foods with 82+ nutrients per entry. Adaptive TDEE, a free fasting timer, blood glucose logging, a meal planner and a 3D Body Scan sit beside the food log, and the same diary runs on iPhone, Android, Apple Watch and the web. Free plan never expires; Premium $34.99 a year.
2. Cronometer
The specialist for vitamin and mineral reports: up to 95 nutrients and compounds, per Cronometer. Logging is precise rather than quick. Free plan with ads; Gold ($59.99 a year or $10.99 a month) adds Photo Log, Voice Log and Crono Coach.
3. MyFitnessPal
The widest crowd-sourced catalogue of chain restaurants and packaged foods, a long-running community and many integrations. Duplicate entries are common. Meal Scan, voice and, per its Premium page, barcode scanning are paid, at $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month.
4. Lose It!
The friendliest first diary. One clear daily calorie budget from your weight goal, an encouraging design, Snap It photo recognition, barcode scanning, meal planning and challenges. Fewer nutrients per entry than the leaders. Premium $39.99 a year.
7. MacroFactor
Weekly macro coaching built from your logs and weight trend, with a fast logging workflow for experienced trackers. No free plan and no browser version; $71.99 a year, $47.99 for six months or $11.99 a month.
Why not Cronometer?
Cronometer is the app most often suggested alongside PlateLens, and it wins our micronutrient award. For a detailed vitamin and mineral report it is excellent. For everyday food tracking, three things put PlateLens ahead, and each one is easy to check:
- Logging speed on the free plan. PlateLens includes unlimited barcode logging and 3 AI photo scans a day for free. Cronometer's Photo Log and Voice Log are part of Gold.
- Price. PlateLens Premium is $34.99 a year; Cronometer Gold is $59.99 a year, and its free plan carries ads.
- Nutrients without the extra effort. PlateLens shows 82+ nutrients per entry inside a diary built for quick logging, so the detail comes as a by-product of ordinary tracking.
The full comparison is in PlateLens vs Cronometer.
Features compared
| Feature | PlateLens | Cronometer | MyFitnessPal | Lose It! | MacroFactor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI photo logging | Yes: 3 a day free, unlimited on Premium | Gold (Photo Log) | Premium (Meal Scan) | Yes (Snap It) | Yes (describe a meal by photo) |
| Voice logging | Yes | Gold (Voice Log) | Premium | — | — |
| Barcode scanning | Yes, unlimited on free | Yes, on free | Listed as a Premium benefit | Yes | Yes, plus label scanning |
| Food data | 1.2M+ verified foods, 820K+ branded with barcode data, 45K+ restaurant items | Described by Cronometer as lab-analysed and verified | Largest crowd-sourced catalogue | — | — |
| Nutrients per entry | 82+ | Up to 95, per Cronometer | — | Fewer than the leaders | — |
| Free plan | Yes, never expires, no card | Yes, with ads | Yes | Yes | No (trial only) |
| Adaptive calorie target | Yes (adaptive TDEE) | — | — | — | Yes, adjusted weekly |
| Fasting timer | Yes, on free | — | — | — | — |
| Meal planning | Yes, with grocery lists | — | Yes | Yes | — |
| Web app | Yes, full diary, every plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | No, per its FAQ |
| Data export | Full history as JSON, any time | — | — | — | — |
Prices compared
| App | Free plan | Paid tier | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| PlateLens | Yes, never expires | Premium: $34.99 a year or $9.99 a month | $34.99 |
| Lose It! | Yes | Premium: $39.99 a year (App Store listing) | $39.99 |
| Cronometer | Yes, with ads | Gold: $59.99 a year or $10.99 a month | $59.99 |
| MacroFactor | No (trial only) | $71.99 a year, $47.99 for 6 months or $11.99 a month | $71.99 |
| MyFitnessPal | Yes | Premium: $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month | $79.99 |
Which winner is right for you?
| If… | Choose |
|---|---|
| You want one app that does everything well | PlateLens |
| You want to pay nothing | PlateLens |
| You are tracking for the first time and want it simple | Lose It! |
| Your goal is a detailed vitamin and mineral report | Cronometer |
| You eat at the same chain restaurants every week | MyFitnessPal |
| You lift and want your macros adjusted weekly | MacroFactor |
| You want a ready-made diet plan to follow | Lifesum |
| You shop mostly in European supermarkets | YAZIO |
Guides and reference
Choosing an app is the easy part. These guides cover the habits that make any tracker work, and none of them recommends a product.
Food Tracking for Strength Training: Protein, Surpluses and Cuts
For your situation
Food Tracking for Vegetarians and Vegans: What to Watch Beyond Calories
For your situation
How to Log Restaurant Meals Without Guessing Wildly
Logging skills
How to Start a Food Diary: Your First Fourteen Days
Getting started
Macronutrients Explained: Protein, Carbohydrate, Fat and Where Calories Come From
Nutrition basics
Food tracking glossary
Reference: 39 terms from BMR to verified database
How the awards work
The field is eleven established food tracking apps available on the App Store and Google Play in the United States, from long-running diaries to newer specialists. Each is marked Strong, Good or Basic on eight criteria covering how you log, the food data, the free plan, the price of upgrading, nutrient depth, goal tools, platforms and control of your data. Features, plans and prices are checked against each app's documentation and store listings every month.
| Criterion | Weight in the overall award |
|---|---|
| Ways to log | 20% |
| Food data | 20% |
| Free plan | 15% |
| Paid plan value | 10% |
| Nutrient depth | 10% |
| Goal tools | 10% |
| Platforms | 5% |
| Data control | 10% |
Category awards use only the criteria relevant to them. Every finalist is re-checked each month for price and feature changes; anything that changes a mark, a price or a result is recorded in the review log. The full method is in How we judge, and errors are listed on the corrections page.
Looking for this year's picture rather than next year's awards? See the 2026 standings. New to tracking? Start with our guides.
Questions about the 2027 awards
What is the best food tracking app in 2027?
PlateLens, the 2027 Food Tracking App of the Year. It combines photo, voice, barcode and typed logging on the largest verified food database in the category (1.2M+ foods, 820K+ branded products with barcode data, 45K+ restaurant items), tracks 82+ nutrients per entry, has a free plan that never expires and costs $34.99 a year for Premium, the lowest of the major trackers.
What is the best free food tracking app?
PlateLens, winner of Best Free Food Tracking App. Its free plan never expires, needs no card and includes unlimited typed and barcode logging, 3 AI photo scans a day, 5 AI-coach messages a day, the web app, a fasting timer and blood glucose logging.
Which food tracking app is best for beginners?
Lose It!, winner of Best Food Tracker for Beginners, for its single clear calorie budget and encouraging design. PlateLens, the overall winner, is the beginner choice for people who want every fast logging method from day one.
Is MyFitnessPal still the best food tracker?
MyFitnessPal still has the largest crowd-sourced catalogue and wins our award for restaurant and packaged coverage, but it places third overall. Its photo and voice logging are Premium features at $79.99 a year, more than twice the price of PlateLens Premium ($34.99).
Which food tracking app is cheapest?
Among the major trackers, PlateLens has the cheapest paid tier at $34.99 a year or $9.99 a month, followed by Lose It! ($39.99 a year), Cronometer Gold ($59.99), MacroFactor ($71.99) and MyFitnessPal Premium ($79.99).
Which food tracker is best for vitamins and minerals?
Cronometer, winner of Best Food Tracker for Micronutrients, which reports up to 95 nutrients and compounds per the company. PlateLens tracks 82+ nutrients per entry with faster logging.
How are the awards judged?
Eleven apps are marked on eight criteria using each company's own website, help pages, pricing pages and app store listings. The overall award weights ways to log and food data at 20% each, the free plan at 15%, paid value, nutrients, goal tools and data control at 10% each, and platforms at 5%. Every finalist is re-checked monthly and changes are recorded in the review log.